The Houston Texans take the Thanksgiving trip to Ford Field to take on the Detroit Lions.
The Texans are coming off only their third win of the season against the New England Patriots last week. Meanwhile, the Lions’ offense failed to show up in their last game against the Carolina Panthers as they failed to score a point.
Detroit is now 4-6 overall and in the bottom of the NFC North division.
The Houston Texans are 3-7 on the season and are out of the playoff picture. Despite the team’s struggles, quarterback DeShaun Watson is having a very good season. During last Sunday’s win over the Patriots, he completed 28 of 37 passes for 344 yards and two touchdowns. He has passed for 300 yards in five games played this season and has thrown for two or more touchdowns in seven of his last eight games played.
For the year, Watson has passed for 2,883 yards with 20 touchdowns and five interceptions. He is also second on the team with 269 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Will Fuller leads the team with 708 receiving yards with six touchdowns on 47 catches. David Johnson has rushed for 408 yards with three scores on 103 carries.
On defense, the Texans are averaging 27.2 points per game allowed and 411 yards per contest. They are led by Zach Cunningham who has a total of 101 tackles on the season. JJ Watt has four sacks while Bradley Robey and Vernon Hargreaves II have one interception.
Only two teams have been blanked this season, the Miami Dolphins against the New York Jets in Week 6 and the Lions last week against the Carolina Panthers. The 20-0 defeat was not expected at all because the Lions had scored at least 20 points in each of their last nine games played. Stafford completed just 18 of 33 passes for 145 yards. He will look back to bounce back against a Houston defense that has struggled to stop the pass this season.
Stafford has thrown a total of 2,581 passing yards this season with 17 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. Detroit ranks 29th in the league in rushing at 95.4 yards per game this season. They only had 45 against the 17th ranked rush defense of Carolina. Marvin Jones leads the team with 37 catches for 455 receiving yards with five touchdowns. Meanwhile, Adrian Peterson is the team’s leading rusher at 389 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 104 carries.
The Lions have conceded an average of 28.7 points and 397.4 total yards of offense per game. Detroit also has the 30th ranked rushing defense with Jamie Collins Jr. leading the team with 77 tackles. Romeo Okwara leads the team with six sacks and Duron Harmon has two picks to pace Detroit. Last week, The Lions defense conceded 258 passing yards against an opponent whose QB was making only his third NFL appearance and first-ever start.
Houston is 3-8 SU in their last 11 games played. The Texans are 1-4 SU in their last five games played on the road, and 2-5 SU in their last seven games played against the NFC. Detroit is 4-15 SU in their last 19 games played. The Lions are 1-3 SU in their last four games played at home and 1-9 SU in their last 10 November games. Head to head, the Texans are 3-1 SU in their last four games played against the Lions.
The Texans are coming off a win over the Patriots and they should be heading to this game with plenty of confidence. Meanwhile, the Lions were blanked by the Panthers the last time out and they have lost three out of their last four games played. The Lions’ last three wins have come against Atlanta, Washington, and Jacksonville who have a combined 7-23 record this season.
Neither of these teams can run the football well so this will go down to who has the better passing game. Houston has the edge over Detroit when it comes to passing offense and defense. The Lions have a banged-up Matthew Stafford and that could be an issue here. Despite playing on the road here, I expect the Titans to ride the momentum from last week’s win to beat the slumping Lions at Ford Field.
Prediction: Houston Texans
The Texans are 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games played. Houston is 1-4 ATS in their last five games on the road and 1-4 ATS in their last five games against the NFC North division. The Lions are 6-14 ATS in their last 20 games played. Detroit is 1-3 ATS in their last four games played at home, 3-13 ATS in their last 16 week 12 games, and 6-3 ATS in their last nine Thursday games. Head to head, the Lions are 3-1 ATS in their last four games played against the Texans.
The strength of the Texans’ game is its passing, thanks to the passing arm of starting quarterback DeShaun Watson. Meanwhile, the Lions’ pass defense is ranked 25th in the league and it was terrible in their last game. The Lions are coming off one of their worst offensive performances of the season. I expect them to bounce back with a strong effort. However, even if the Lions bring their A-game passing-wise, the Texans are still the better team in that category.
Prediction: Texans -2.5
The total has gone under in four out of the last six games played by the Texans. The over is 5-1 in Houston’s last six games played on the road. The Texans have seen the total go under in five out of their last six November games. The total has gone over in six out of the 10 games played by the Lions this season. The over is also 10-1 in Detroit’s last 11 games played at home, and 4-1 in their last five games played against the AFC. Head to head, the total has gone over in three out of the last four meetings between these two teams.
These are two teams who run don’t run well with the football so we should see many balls in the air here. The Texans have the 8th best passing game in the league and Watson is coming off a 344 passing yards performance last week against a tough New England secondary Houston ranks 22nd in the league against the pass and they have conceded 254 passing yards per game in their last three games. I expect Matthew Stafford to bounce back after a poor display of offense against the Panthers.
Prediction: Over 51.5
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
